10 Best Hard Rock & Heavy Metal Albums Of 2018

Much like coffee, metal is often at its very best when it’s black. And while some bands like Watain continued to reinforce the old-school black metal approach of being as heathenistic and evil as possible, the newer Møl were revitalising “post-black metal”.

In their use of differing tones and dynamics, ranging from the clean and ominous to the loud and screeching, Møl are comparable to blackgaze pioneers like Deafheaven and Alcest. But what sets these Danes apart from the originators of their subgenre is their succinctness.

Other blackgaze bands often specialise in lengthy tunes, slowly crawling from the peaceful to the riotous over many minutes. Møl don’t have time for that on their debut album, Jord, instead creating five-minute bursts that energetically leap back and forth from one style to another.

The title track, for example, opts to open with a singular, dissonant guitar, in keeping with blackgaze conventions. But quickly, a thrashing riff is built upon that simple foundation, appearing as if from nowhere to soon culminate in a neck-snapper of a breakdown. “Vakuum” and “Ligament” are similarly on-the-nose in their blackened brutality.

Jord feels like blackgaze that has spent the last six months in the gym, resulting in a beefed-up take on the style with no excess to speak of.